1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an Advanced Intelligent Network having a network node, referred to as a Maintenance Operations Console (MOC), that monitors and controls operations of the elements of the Advanced Intelligent Network.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a number of new service features have been provided by an enhanced public communications telephone network, referred to as an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN). In an AIN type system, local and/or toll offices of the public telephone network detect one of a number of call processing events identified as AIN "triggers". For ordinary telephone service calls, there would be no event to trigger AIN processing, and the local and toll office switches would function normally and process such calls without referring to the central database for instructions. An office which detects a trigger will suspend call processing, compile a call data message and forward that message via a common channel interoffice signaling (CCIS) link to an Integrated Service Control Point (ISCP) which includes a Multi-Services Application Platform (MSAP) database. If needed, the ISCP can instruct the central office to obtain and forward additional information. Once sufficient information about the call has reached the ISCP, the ISCP accesses its stored data tables in the MSAP database to translate the received message data into a call control message and returns the call control message to the office of the network via CCIS link. The network offices then use the call control message to complete the particular call. An AIN type network for providing an Area Wide Centrex service was disclosed and described in detail in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,571 to Kay et al., the disclosure of which is herein incorporated in its entirety by reference. In AIN type systems such as disclosed in Kay et al., announcement and digit functions may be required for certain specific services. For example, a caller may be prompted by a tone or speech announcement to enter a personal identification number (PIN) before obtaining a selected service or modifying certain stored parameters relating to the subscriber's AIN service. In prior art AIN systems, a switching office of the public telephone network would generate the announcements from some internal platform.
Intelligent Peripherals (IPs) have been proposed as an AIN network node that provides a platform to provide readily adaptable means to add and change announcements to an AIN, without direct addition of equipment in each central office switching system. By centralizing announcement capabilities in the IP, announcement changes can be performed without reprogramming every switch in the network offering an enhanced service. The IP also provides a flexible platform to accommodate the addition of future service enhancements, such as speech recognition, mail services, etc., without requiring addition to or modification of equipment within the central office switching systems.
Telephone networks have historically required a high level of reliability in the services provided to its subscribers. Accordingly, it is highly desirable that the enhanced service features provided by AIN networks have the same high level of reliability as conventional public switched telephone networks. Thus, AIN elements have been equipped with dedicated maintenance and operations consoles (MOCs) to monitor operations of the respective AIN element. For example, Bellcore has developed an ISCP that has a dedicated maintenance and operations console (MOC) for monitoring the operations of the ISCP. Each Bellcore ISCP is mated with a dedicated Bellcore provisioning system, known as the SPACE provisioning system, that also has its own dedicated MOC. The SPACE provisioning system programs the databases in the specific ISCP, for example by communicating via a packet switched network, such as Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) network. A more detailed description of an exemplary implementation of the SPACE provisioning system 54 is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,588 to Babson, III et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated in its entirety by reference.
A protocol known as Simplified Network Management Protocol (SNMP) has been specified for the communication of management information in data networks using TCP/IP protocol. This protocol is designed to be simple but flexible so that management applications of some complexity can be built, while still retaining support for the lowest common denominator of managed systems.
However, the maintenance and operations systems in the telephone networks have not adopted SNMP due to the perceived inability of SNMP to accommodate the relative complexity of the telephone network functions. Moreover, existing MOCs such as the Bellcore ISCP MOC and SPACE MOC use proprietary software and technology that is incompatible with SNMP. The incompatibility of the ISCP MOC and the SPACE MOC with SNMP prevents the transport of management information from the ISCP MOC or the SPACE MOC to another AIN element via the TCP/IP network.
Hence, each AIN element requires its own dedicated MOC, often at the physical location of that AIN element. Thus, the addition of another AIN element, such as an IP, will require the addition of a dedicated MOC to ensure reliability of the new AIN element. For example, commonly-assigned, copending application No. 08/248,980, filed May 25, 1994, entitled Advanced Intelligent Network with Intelligent Peripherals Interfaced to the Integrated Services Control Point (attorney No. 680-076), the disclosure of which is incorporated in its entirety by reference, discloses an IP that has its own dedicated MOC. Thus, MOCs are unable to communicate with each other in order to share resources or compare different errors from different AIN elements, thereby complicating efforts to identify faults in AIN systems failures.